Networks, such as the Internet and World Wide Web (collectively, "Internet"), provide mechanisms that allows computers to share information. Typically, computers which share information over the Internet operate according to a "client-server" paradigm. In the client-server paradigm, some computers, operating as servers, make information, such as Web pages, available for retrieval by other computers, which operate as clients. When a client is to retrieve a particular Web page from a server, it transmits a request over the communication links to the particular server, or one of a plurality of particular servers, which maintain the Web page that is to be retrieved. The server which receives the request will, in turn, transfer the requested Web page to the client computer. When the client computer receives the Web page, it can display it (that is, the Web page) to the operator or otherwise utilize the information received from the server computer. Typically, a client computer will make use of a network "browser" program, such as the Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer program, to enable an operator to identify the particular Web page that is to be requested, and to display or otherwise utilize the Web page when it is received.
A number of types of information are available for retrieval over the Internet. For example, some newspapers, magazines and broadcast news outlets also operate as "web sites," operating server computers which provide at least some of the information which is available in their respective, for example, hardcopy publications, in the case of newspapers and magazines, and broadcasts, in the case of broadcast news outlets. In addition, some news outlets and "e-zines," or "electronic magazines," which only have presence on the Internet, have developed to distribute news and other information over the Internet. In these cases, typically the publishers sell advertising space on their Web pages and insert advertising therein. Furthermore, mail order merchandisers have developed web sites that allow potential customers to access information concerning their offerings and to order goods and services offered thereby.
One of the problems with advertising over the Internet is that it is generally difficult to target particular types of advertising and other Web page content to particular clients, based on the particular needs and interests of the clients and their operators. Generally, in the non-Internet context, such as advertising sent through the U.S. mails, pieces of advertising, such as catalogs, are mailed to potential customers' addresses based on their (that is, the potential customers') prior buying habits, as can be determined from previous purchases from the same or similar advertisers, credit card transaction information, the town in which they live and information as to advertisements to which the potential customer has responded to in the past. This information is generally difficult to obtain and apply in the case of advertising over the Internet. Typically, targeting of advertising over the Internet is performed by means of advertising management systems, which use types of such personal information as can be determined from protocols used for communications over the Internet, such as the type of browser, the client's Internet domain, the particular Web site(s) the client has recently accessed, and the like. Such information is generally very broad and does not provide a high degree of accuracy or reliability for targeting, and as a result such advertising management systems are not widely used.
In addition, "server-side" content targeting systems have been developed which can customize Web page content for particular clients and their operators. These systems require a significant amount of personal information about the respective operators to be sent to the server to be useful. Generally, such systems ask the operators to provide at least some of the personal information, through filling out questionnaires or the like or making use of information that they (that is, the systems) may have about an operator who identifies him- or herself when accessing a particular Web page. Content targeting systems are rarely used because operators rarely wish to provide such personal information to a server database or their personal identifications to the server would be required to link to the personal operator information which they may have. Recently, an "Open Profiling Standard" ("OPS") has been proposed to standardize the way in which a server can obtain personal information for a particular operator from the operator. Under the OPS, the personal information obtained from the operator is stored as a "profile" on the operator's client computer, rather than on an advertisers' server computers. Some or all of the OPS profile could be retrieved by an advertiser and sent to the server, as part of the communications over the Internet, for purposes of targeting of advertising and the like. Since the OPS profile would be used for multiple Web sites, the OPS would reduce or eliminate the need for the operator to re-enter personal information for each Web site. However, that may not be sufficient inducement for the operator to provide the information for the profile either accurately or at all, particularly if he or she is concerned about the privacy of the information in the profile. In addition, an operator could provide and store multiple OPS profiles on his or her client computer, and could easily use a false identity to retain anonymity over the Internet. Thus, the quality of the personal information that could be obtained by use of the OPS is suspect.